Levine - Cubs sign Cintron (ESPN1000)

[Transmogrified Tiger]

A note on Cintron: he's a switch hitter, and his splits are favorable: he's a career .347 OBP guy left-handed, with a career .305 batting average and .768 OPS hitting lefty.

 

Theriot is a career .384 OBP vs lefties with an .846 OPS.

 

I know Cintron isn't too hot defensively, worse than Theriot I assume.

 

And I know neither would be likely to perform at those levels if you put them in a straight platoon. But if you did platoon a .347 OBP with a .384 OBP; might one reasonably get a .340+ OBP outcome? And if you platooned a .768 OPS with an .846 OPS, might one reasonably get a .750+ OPS? A .340-OBP .750-OPS SS, that wouldn't be that bad hitting 8th or even 2nd. And that would be worse than either of their career splits.

 

Maybe this will be our lucky year where things like that will work out.

 

Unfortunately, Cintron's career splits are skewed by his career year in 2003. He hasn't had an OBP above .326 against RHP since then. Still, a fair point that if Cedeno is traded/bombs he could be moderately useful instead of Theriot's awfulness against RHP.

[soapy]

A note on Cintron: he's a switch hitter, and his splits are favorable: he's a career .347 OBP guy left-handed, with a career .305 batting average and .768 OPS hitting lefty.

 

Theriot is a career .384 OBP vs lefties with an .846 OPS.

 

I know Cintron isn't too hot defensively, worse than Theriot I assume.

 

And I know neither would be likely to perform at those levels if you put them in a straight platoon. But if you did platoon a .347 OBP with a .384 OBP; might one reasonably get a .340+ OBP outcome? And if you platooned a .768 OPS with an .846 OPS, might one reasonably get a .750+ OPS? A .340-OBP .750-OPS SS, that wouldn't be that bad hitting 8th or even 2nd. And that would be worse than either of their career splits.

 

Maybe this will be our lucky year where things like that will work out.

 

Unfortunately, Cintron's career splits are skewed by his career year in 2003. He hasn't had an OBP above .326 against RHP since then. Still, a fair point that if Cedeno is traded/bombs he could be moderately useful instead of Theriot's awfulness against RHP.

Yeah, the bad thing is a .326 OBP is still better than what Theriot is likely to do vs. RHP (.318 last year).

[TheRaven]

unless this is a precursor to a bigger move then this makes no sense. Cintron is an atrocious player. His obp is under .300, he never walks & is just not good.

 

Usually people that never walk have a crappy OBP, yes.

 

Overall, it amazes me how critical people can and will be over minor league deals around here. I see no harm in doing this move, regardless of a potential future trade or not.